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INDEXED MON 20 JUL MMXXVI
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The Grateful Dead Archive · compiled by hand, played through the deck
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❦An Annotated Guide to Grateful Dead Songlists❦
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Band member · core
Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan
Keys · harmonica · vocals
Years1965–1972
Shows815
Born1945† 1973
Mark✕
Bio
Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan: keys, harmonica, raconteur, the band's blues conscience. Grew up soaking in R&B through his father, a Bay Area radio DJ who spun that music for a living. Sang Lovelight, Caution, Smokestack Lightning until they were sermons. Drank himself into liver failure and died at 27 on March 8th, 1973. The band stopped playing his songs the night he died and never really started again.
Shows per year
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Browse shows
— full archive, paged one year at a time
viewing1968
| # | Date | Venue | City | Release | Songs | Play | Setlist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1968-11-10 | Fillmore West | San Francisco, California | 1 | open ↗ | ||
| 02 | 1968-11-15 | Gill Coliseum | Corvallis, Oregon | 2 | open ↗ | ||
| 03 | 1968-11-16 | EMU Ballroom | Eugene, Oregon | — | open ↗ | ||
| 04 | 1968-11-17 | Eagles Auditorium | Seattle, Washington | — | open ↗ | ||
| 05 | 1968-11-22 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium | Columbus, Ohio | 9 | open ↗ | ||
| 06 | 1968-11-25 | Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium | Athens, Ohio | 7 | open ↗ | ||
| 07 | 1968-11-27 | Kinetic Playground | Chicago, Illinois | 2 | open ↗ | ||
| 08 | 1968-11-28 | Kinetic Playground | Chicago, Illinois | — | open ↗ | ||
| 09 | 1968-11-29 | Hyde Park Teen Center | Cincinnati, Ohio | 5 | open ↗ | ||
| 10 | 1968-11-30 | Hyde Park Teen Center | Cincinnati, Ohio | 3 | open ↗ | ||
| 11 | 1968-12-01 | Grande Ballroom | Detroit, Michigan | 1 | open ↗ | ||
| 12 | 1968-12-06 | Spectrum | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | — | open ↗ | ||
| 13 | 1968-12-07 | Knights Hall, Bellarmine University | Louisville, Kentucky | 12 | open ↗ | ||
| 14 | 1968-12-13 | The Bank | Torrance, California | 1 | open ↗ | ||
| 15 | 1968-12-14 | The Bank | Torrance, California | — | open ↗ | ||
| 16 | 1968-12-20 | Shrine Exposition Hall | Los Angeles, California | 7 | open ↗ | ||
| 17 | 1968-12-21 | Shrine Exposition Hall | Los Angeles, California | 8 | open ↗ | ||
| 18 | 1968-12-28 | Catacombs Club | Houston, Texas | 10 | open ↗ | ||
| 19 | 1968-12-29 | Gulfstream Park | Hallandale Beach, Florida | 9 | open ↗ | ||
| 20 | 1968-12-31 | Winterland Arena | San Francisco, California | 5 | open ↗ |
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Signature shows
— the nights worth knowing
Songs debuted in this era
— Primal Dead · 1965–1971
Signature songs
— what they're known for